


You Are (Not) A Villain

by Welsh_Woman



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Stereotypes, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 21:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welsh_Woman/pseuds/Welsh_Woman
Summary: You come to Hogwarts at eleven years old. You are full of wonder and excitement.You don't leave the same way.





	You Are (Not) A Villain

**Author's Note:**

> This came from an "All Slytherins are evil" post and I just... have Feelings about this.

You’re sitting in a boat with a bunch of other eleven-year-olds, a magical castle in the distance, and you can  _feel_  every single bone in your body vibrating with  _excitement_.

Strange things have always happened around you, from that time you were two and your bedroom light flashed every color of the rainbow when you were feeling sad, to the time the cat thought your feet were its chew toy and literally  _bounced_  off of you when it tried to ‘catch’ them.

Now, though, you know what all that means. Now, you don’t feel like some freak of nature. You feel  _special_  and you’re surrounded by people  _just like you_.

The lady that meets you at the front door is  _scary_ , but you’re only a little afraid because she explains to you that you’ll be 'Sorted’ into different 'Houses’ and the people there will be like a family of sorts, helping you and being there whenever you need someone to talk to.

That makes you breathe a sigh of relief; while meeting new people is kind of cool, it’s nice that there are people who will be there if you’re not that outgoing or if nobody in the school ends up liking you.

Walking into the Great Hall amongst your fellow First Years, your eyes are wide as you try to take in  _everything_ , a buzzing under your skin as you all gather in front of an… old hat on a stool?

Turns out even  _hats_  have a bit of magic in them because  _this_ one has a rip at the brim that opens a mouth and it begins to  _sing_!

Jaw nearly hitting the floor, you listen as it lists traits that each House looks for:

Gryffindor - Daring, nerve, chivalry

Hufflepuff - Loyal, just, hardworking

Ravenclaw - Smart, wit, learning

Slytherin - Cunning, ambitious, determined

Watching everyone else get Sorted, you try to figure out which one you fit into the most, because there were traits in _every_  House that you felt could describe you and by the time your name gets called out, you’re glad that it’s the Sorting Hat’s job to figure that out because you just  _trying it_ is giving you one  _hell_ of a headache.

The hat is settled on your head and you wait as a voice in the back of your mind goes through all the things that you were listing before it yells 'SLYTHERIN’ for the whole Hall to hear.

And that is the only table that claps as you stumble over to them.

You’re…  _confused_ ; every other student had the whole Hall _bursting_  with applause, but you only had your fellow Slytherins and a few of the teachers clapping.

…Did you do something  _wrong_?

It’s not until your second week of classes that you hear it:

“There’s not a witch or wizard that’s gone bad that hasn’t been in Slytherin.”

It’s whispered in a way that you know is meant to be heard and you can see out of the corner of your eye a group of students looking at you like you’re walking around covered in Bubotuber Pus.

You don’t understand; you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve haven’t  _done_ anything wrong, and yet people are treating you like you’re Voldemort reincarnate.

And it’s not just you, it’s  _all_ Slytherins that are sneered and mocked at.

**_Why?_ **

It’s not… they don’t  _hurt_  you or throw curses at you, or anything like that.

It’s just  _words_.

They don’t mean anything, you  _know_  you’re not a bad person.

But they don’t  _stop_ , despite the fact that you never so much as  _sneeze_  at anyone.

The year slips by as silently as you do whenever you see a tie that is void of your silver and green, see a frown instead of a smile when someone recognizes who you are.

Hope fills you over summer vacation that last year was just a fluke, that there still are tensions left over from the last Wizard War and now that everyone has time to relax, that it’ll be better next year.

Second Year starts and you board the Hogwarts Express.

It’s not better.

Not by a long shot.

You learn several new spells that year, sure, but you also learn all the different ways you can be called 'evil’ and 'a bad seed’, and that there’s a room on the seventh floor that always seems to know when you need to hide.

It all comes to a head in Third Year.

Astronomy has always been your escape, looking up at the stars and imagining what life would be like in outer space and if a Bubble-Head Charm would protect someone if their helmet was cracked.

You’re leaning against the side of one of the turrets and you’re hit with the sudden thought of stepping over the edge, of letting everything  _go_ , not having to hear the jeers and snipes of the people you had thought were suppose to accept you.

Looking down at the sprawling darkness, you try to think of a reason why you shouldn’t and nothing comes to mind.

After all, you’re a Slytherin.

A  _bad guy_.

Who would miss  ** _you?_**


End file.
